Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Graduate, Dropout Rates Released - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Graduate, Dropout Rates Released - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):


State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reports
Climb in Graduation Rates for California Students




SACRAMENTO—Graduation rates among California's public school students are climbing and dropout rates are falling, with the biggest gains being made among English learners and the state's largest minority groups, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.
More than three quarters, or 76.3 percent, of students who started high school in 2007 graduated with their class in 2011. That is up 1.5 percentage points from the 2010 graduation rate. Larger gains were seen among Hispanic and African American students at 2.2 and 2.3 percentage points respectively, with the biggest increase being among English learners at 3.8 percentage points. The graduation rate for socioeconomically disadvantaged students climbed nearly 2 percentage points, from 68.1 to 70 percent.
"Every graduate represents a success story in one of the most effective job and anti-poverty programs ever conceived, our public schools," Torlakson said. "These numbers are a testament to the hard work of teachers and administrators, of parents and, most of all, of the students themselves. While they are a great illustration of all that is going right in California schools, they should also remind us that schools need our support to continue to improve so that every student graduates prepared for college, a career, and to contribute to our state's future."
Beyond the 76.3 percent graduation rate and the 14.4 percent dropout rate, the remaining 9.3 percent are students who are neither graduates nor dropouts. Some are still enrolled in school (8.6 percent). Others are non-diploma special education students (0.4 percent), and some elected to pass a high school equivalency exam.
Graduation and dropout rates for counties, districts, and schools across California were calculated based on four-year cohort—referring to this particular group of students—information using the state's California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). This is the second time this four-year cohort information was collected, making this the first time that it can be compared year to year. With two years of data, the cohort rates will now be used to determine whether schools have met their targets for increasing the graduation rate for the Adequate Yearly Progress reporting under the federal school accountability system. The 2009-10 rates were also adjusted as a part of this data release (marked "A" in the tables below) to include only those students who were first-time ninth graders in the 2006-07 school year.
The new cohort dropout rate is calculated for high school students, grades nine through twelve. However, there are also significant numbers of students who drop out of school during the middle school years.
"Our research shows that chronic absence from school, even as early as kindergarten, is a strong indicator of whether a child will drop out of school later," Torlakson said. "The dropout rate shows there's still much work to be done, particularly to address the needs of disadvantaged and minority students. We must build on our work with parents and communities in the earliest years to pave the way for kids to succeed in school."
CALPADS has made great strides since an independent oversight consultant was critical of the initial release of the system in 2009. In its latest report, the same independent oversight consultant concluded, "The CALPADS project is presently in the healthiest state of its history."
To view and download state, county, district, and school graduation and dropout rates, please visit the CDE DataQuest Web site at DataQuest. Reporters are encouraged to use caution when comparing education rates among individual schools and districts; some, such as county office schools, alternative schools or dropout recovery high schools, serve only those students who are already at the greatest risk of dropping out, compared with the broader population at traditional high schools.
Attachments

Cohort Graduation and Dropout Rate Results
2009-10 to 2010-11

Cohort Graduation Rates
Type
09-10
09-10(A)
Number
10-11
Number
Change
All Students
75.2%
74.8%
378,976
76.3%
382,558
+1.5%
Hispanic
68.8%
68.2%
159,363
70.4%
167,886
+2.2%
American Indian
68.3%
67.2%
2,934
68.0%
2,692
+0.8%
Asian
89.7%
89.0%
40,385
89.7%
39,717
+0.7%
Pacific Islander
73.3%
72.1%
2,520
74.3%
2,432
+2.2%
Filipino
88.1%
87.4%
12,002
89.0%
12,104
+1.6%
African American
59.7%
60.6%
25,226
62.9%
24,917
+2.3%
White
84.1%
83.5%
130,537
85.5%
124,863
+2.0%
Two or More
84.9%
83.2%
4,533
81.5%
5,311
-1.7%
Not Reported
68.2%
53.8%
1,476
48.6%
2,636
-5.2%
English Learners
56.6%
56.5%
53,015
60.3%
60,280
+3.8%
Migrant
73.3%
71.2%
10,790
71.9%
9,794
+0.7%
Special Education
57.7%
56.8%
34,385
59.1%
34,156
+2.3%
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
68.6%
68.1%
204,189
70.0%
219,856
+1.9%
Cohort Dropout Rates
Type
09-10
09-10(A)
Number
10-11
Number
Change
All Students
17.5%
16.6%
84,309
14.4%
72,320
-2.2%
Hispanic
21.9%
20.8%
48,707
17.7%
42,129
-3.1%
American Indian
22.8%
22.0%
961
20.7%
818
-1.3%
Asian
7.5%
7.2%
3,270
6.2%
2,764
-1.0%
Pacific Islander
20.4%
19.6%
683
17.5%
571
-2.1%
Filipino
8.0%
7.9%
1,079
6.7%
906
-1.2%
African American
29.2%
26.8%
11,145
24.7%
9,793
-2.1%
White
11.1%
10.7%
16,769
8.9%
12,981
-1.8%
Two or More
10.6%
10.2%
554
11.2%
730
+1.0%
Not Reported
26.3%
41.6%
1,141
30.0%
1,628
-11.6%
English Learners
29.8%
29.0%
27,268
24.9%
24,860
-4.1%
Migrant
18.3%
18.8%
2,845
17.3%
2,352
-1.5%
Special Education
23.7%
22.0%
13,307
18.4%
10,634
-3.6%
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
21.3%
20.1%
60,319
17.7%
55,486
-2.4%
# # # #
Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100